History of Cricket

Cricket originated in England over 500 years ago as a series of ball-and-stick games played under different rules. ‘Bat’ is an old English word, which simply means ‘stick’ or ‘Kunda’. By the 17th century, cricket as a sport had become widely recognized and had become so popular that fans were fined for playing matches without going to church on Sundays. By the middle of the 18th century, the bat was bent down like a hockey stick. The simple reason for this was that the ball was bowled underarm, rolling, and the rotation of the lower end of the bat helped the batsman to make contact with the ball.

How and when the game evolved from the villages of England to the modern game played in the huge stadiums of big cities is an interesting subject of history, because one of the uses of history is to tell us the story of the present. Sports are an important part of our present life – through which we entertain ourselves, compete with each other, keep ourselves fit and also express our social side. If on this day millions of Indians leave everything and get involved in watching the Indian team play a Test or ODI match. It seems important to know that this ball-stick game discovered in South-East England is after all a game of the Indian subcontinent. How did it become an obsession? On the other hand, the legislative issues of religion and standing likewise formed it to a degree.

The ground can be oval like the Adelaide Oval, or almost round like Chepauk in Chennai. In the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the ball has to travel a long distance to hit a six while in Delhi’s Ferozshah kotla, the ball lands across the boundary line with little effort.

There are historical reasons behind both these wonders. In comparisons to other sports like soccer and hockey, cricket first made rules for itself and also adopted uniforms. The ‘Laws of Cricket’ were given in 1744 AD. The stumps will be 22 inches high with 6 inches between the bails. The heaviness of the ball will be somewhere in the range of 5.5 and 6.5 ounces. The distance between the stumps will be 22 yards”. There was no restriction on the shape and size of the bat.

In the 1760s and 1770s, instead of rolling the ball on the ground, it became a practice to toss the ball forward by waving it in the air. This not only gave the bowlers a choice of the length of the ball, but they could also dodge the air and bowl faster than before. This opened new doors for spin and swing. In response, the batsmen had to master their timing and shot selection. One result was that the straight bat took the place of the bent bat. Because of all this, skill and technique became important while the role of rough terrain or pure power diminished.

The weight of the ball now increased from 5.5 to 6.5 ounces. The width of the bat was reduced to four inches. This happened when a batsman played his entire innings with a bat as wide as the wicket! The movement of the third stump also happened at about the same time. By 1780, the duration of major matches had increased to three days. In the same year, the six-seam cricket ball also came into existence.

Many changes took place in the nineteenth century. The wide ball was introduced, the exact diameter of the ball was fixed. Protective equipment such as pads and gloves became available to prevent injury. The boundary was also introduced whereas earlier every run had to be run. The over arm bowling declared legal. Due to its special history, cricket includes features of both past and present.

In the beginning, there was no time limit for the cricket match. The game continued until one team completely dismissed the other again.

Similarly, the vagueness of the shape of the field in cricket is evidence of its rural origins. Originally, cricket played in the village commons. When the ball entered the crowd, people made way for the fielder to come and retrieve the ball. Even when the boundary line became part of the Laws of Cricket, its distance from the wicket was not specified. The rules only say that ‘the umpire shall determine the limits of the playing area in consultation with both the captains’.

Cricket bat consist of two parts – the blade or phatta and handle. The blade is made of a tree called willow (Baid) and the handle is made of cane. Cane became available when European colonizers and companies established themselves in Asia. Unlike golf and tennis, cricket has out rightly rejected the use of industrial or synthetic materials such as plastic, fiberglass, or metal.

On the other hand, technological changes have had a direct impact on safety equipment. After the discovery of vulcanized rubber, the custom of wearing pads started in 1848.

The impression of English society on the organization of cricket in England is clear. The rich were amateurs for two reasons: one, the game was a form of entertainment for them. Second, there was no money to lure the rich into the game. Being seasonal, sports could not employ throughout the year. During the off-season, most professional players worked in mines or as laborers elsewhere.

The social superiority of amateurs became part of cricket’s tradition. Their entrances to enter the grounds were also different. While the amateurs were the batsmen, the real effort and energy in the game, such as fast bowling, went to the players. This is also one of the reasons why the benefit of the doubt always goes to the batsman in cricket. It is not because batsmen were inherently better captains, but because batsmen were generally ‘gentlemen’. Be it the club team or the national team, the captain was always an amateur player.

This means that the secret of Britain’s military success lay in the values taught to its public school children. By the beginning of the 19th century, Thomas Arnold—who was the headmaster of the famous Rugby School as well as the founder of the modern public school system—considered games such as rugby and cricket to be more than just field games. They develop teaching skills, self-respect, and leadership ability.

Victorian empire-builders considered conquering other countries as selfless social service because only after defeating them backward societies could learn the lesson of civilization by coming in contact with british law and western knowledge. Cricket helped to reinforce this self-image of aristocratic English – by exemplifying the amateur game. A game played for fun and the spirit of fair play but not for profit or victory.

Britain had become the world’s biggest power due to England’s advance in trade and industry, but the English ruling class liked the idea that behind their superiority in the world.

Team sports such as hockey and football became international but cricket remained a colonial sport. Due to the pre-industrial quirks of cricket, it was difficult to export. It took root only in those countries where the British ruled by occupying it. Cricket turned into a famous game in these states (like South Africa, Zimbabwe, Australia, New Zealand, the West Indies, and Kenya) either because white pilgrims embraced it or because nearby elites attempted to emulate the propensities of India. Although British imperial officials did brought the game to the colonies but they made little effort to spread it others also. Playing cricket became a symbol of social and racial superiority here.

Cricket became very popular in the Caribbean islands, despite the exclusive policies of the elite whites in the West Indies. Success in cricket meant racial equality and political progress. When the West Indies won their first Test series against England in the 1950s, there was a national celebration. There were two incongruities in this extraordinary triumph. First, the captain of the West Indies team was only fair. Remember that for the first time in 1960 a black man – Frank Worrell – got a chance to take over the leadership. Second, the West Indies team was not from a single country but consisted of players from several Dominions,. Interestingly, the only exception to all the failed attempts at West Indian unity is the West Indian team representing the Caribbean region.

The credit for the introduction of Hindustani cricket – that is, cricket by Indians – goes Zoroastrians of Bombay. The Parsis founded the first cricket club in Bombay. The sponsors and financiers of Parsi clubs were Parsi businessmen like Tata and Wadia.

The cricket-playing white elite did not help the enthusiastic Parsis. On the contrary, there was also a quarrel between the European Bombay Gymkhana Club and the Parsi cricketers over the use of the park. When it became clear that the colonial authorities were favoring their countrymen, the Parsis built their gymkhana to play cricket. But the rivalry between the Parsis and the racist Bombay Gymkhana ended well – a Parsi team defeated the Bombay Gymkhana in 1889. This happened four years after the founding of the Indian National Congress. Interestingly, one of the original leaders of this institution, Dadabhai Naoroji, a great statesman and intellectual of his time, was a Parsi. The British did not consider colonial India as a nation—to them, it was a set of people of castes, races, and religions, which they integrated at the level of the subcontinent.

Cricketers who become famous and stay in people’s memory are usually players of their national teams. Indian fans remember only those players from the era of five-sided and four-sided matches, who had the privilege of playing Test cricket. The best batsman of his time was C.K Naidu. Although Naidu was also not in his old form until the first cricket match against England in 1932, his name is secure in history as the country’s first Test captain. In this way, India had taken admitted to Test cricket a decade and a half before independence. Similarly, the various Caribbean countries known as the West Indies were British colonies until well after World War II.

YOU MAY LIKE: https://universalcontent.org/the-indus-valley-civilisation/